Drawing upon decades of experience, RAND provides research services, systematic analysis, and innovative thinking to a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PRGS.edu) is the largest public policy Ph.D. program in the nation and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization—the RAND Corporation.

Student Spotlight

History and Mission

Our Mission and Values

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.

For more than six decades, RAND has used rigorous, fact-based research and analysis to help individuals, families, and communities throughout the world be safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. Our research spans the issues that matter most, such as energy, education, health, justice, the environment, and international and military affairs.

As a nonpartisan organization, RAND is widely respected for operating independent of political and commercial pressures. Quality and objectivity are our two core values.

RAND's research is commissioned by a global clientele that includes government agencies, foundations, and private-sector firms. Philanthropic contributions, combined with earnings from RAND's endowment and operations, make possible the RAND-Initiated Research program, which supports innovative research on issues that are crucial to the policy debate but that reach beyond the boundaries of traditional client funding.

Our Commitment to Dissemination and Education

RAND disseminates its research findings as widely as possible to benefit the public good. More than 20,000 RAND publications and commentary are available for free at www.rand.org.

RAND also operates the Pardee RAND Graduate School, the largest public policy analysis Ph.D. program in the United States and the only program based at an independent public policy research organization.

Our History

On May 14, 1948, Project RAND—an organization formed immediately after World War II to connect military planning with research and development decisions—separated from the Douglas Aircraft Company of Santa Monica, California, and became an independent, nonprofit organization. Adopting its name from a contraction of the term research and development, the newly formed entity was dedicated to furthering and promoting scientific, educational, and charitable purposes for the public welfare and security of the United States.

How RAND Invented the Postwar World

Researching RAND: Access to the Corporate Archives

RAND has a proud tradition of making its research and analyses widely available to the public. More than 20,000 RAND publications are already accessible at no cost on our external website. The publications provide a rich resource for scholars and others interested in learning and writing about RAND's contributions to public policy.

Many more materials relevant to our mission, research, and history, and the work of current and former members of the RAND staff, are contained in the RAND archives. Research scholars and qualified journalists who are interested in learning more about RAND's archives can request access.

The Nobel Prize and RAND

RAND's unique intellectual environment and reputation for empirical, nonpartisan, independent analysis have attracted an impressive corps of researchers over the years. Many Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with RAND. Some have been employees, others served as consultants, while others served in an advisory capacity.

The RAND Corporation is a research organization that develops solutions to public policy challenges to help make communities throughout the world safer and more secure, healthier and more prosperous. RAND is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and committed to the public interest.